Bed-brace.



No. 698,046, 2 Patented Apr. 22, |902. c. w. SMITH.

BED BRAGE.

(Appucation med Nov. 13, 1901.;

(N0 Model.)

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

CHARLES WASHINGTON SMITH, OF PIEDMONT, SOUTH CAROLINA, ASSIGNOR OF ONEHALF` TO SAMUEL THOMPSON SMITH AND WILLIAM NESBITT TROWBRIDGE, OF PIEDMONT, SOUTH CAROLINA.

BED-BRACE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 698,416, dated April 22, 1902.

Applicationvflled November 13, 1901i Serial No. 82,147. (No model.)

T0 @ZZ whom it 1v1/ay concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES WASHINGTON SMITH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Piedmont, in the county of Greenville and 5 State of South Carolina, have invented new and useful Improvements in Bed-Braces, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to that class of bedbraces in which wires are employed, connected 1o to the head and foot boards and to the side rails of the bed, with a tightening device for said Wires for drawing the head and foot boards and side rails inwardly toward each other and toward a common center.

x5 The object of the invention is to provide, in

connection with wires attached to the dierent parts of the bed, an adjustable tightening device for said wires, by means of which the brace as a whole is adapted for use upon beds zo of varying sizes.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel means of connection between the tightening-wires of the different parts of the bed, whereby the strain upon said parts will z 5 be equally distributed.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter appear, and the novel foatures thereof will be set forth in the claims.

l In the drawings forming part of this speci 3o fication, Figure 1 is a plan view of a bed-brace constructed according to my invention, and Fig. 2 is a detail perspective view of the tightening device.

Like reference-numeralsindicate like parts 3 5 in the different views.`

The headboard 1, the footboard 2, and the side rails 3 and 4 may be of any suitable form and construction.

Secured to the opposite ends of the head- 4o board 1 and of the footboard 2 are the hooksV the bed, as shown.` -The said tightening de- 5o vice comprises a plate or body 10, having angularly-arranged outwardly-extending hooks 11 or other wire-engaging portions at one end thereof, having an upwardly-extending perforated flange or lip 12 at the opposite end 55 thereof and provided with a series of openings 13 at points intermediate its ends, the said openings 13 being preferablyarran ged at regular intervals apart. Coperating with the base-p1ate 10 of the tightening device 9 is a 6o rod 14, which extends through the perforation in the flange or lip 12 and is provided with scre w-threads 15 uponlone end and with ahook 16, Awhich fits within one or the other of the openings 13 at its opposite end. The said rod 65 14 has loosely mounted thereon a cross-bar 17, provided with hooks or anges 18. In lieu of l said hooks or flanges, however, other equivalent wire-attaching means may be employed. r In connection with these partsl provide upon 7o the screw-threaded end 15 of the rod 14 a thumb-nut 19, by means of which the crossbar 17 may be forced inwardly toward the base-plate 10. Now it will be understood that the angularly-arranged wires 8 on one side 75 of the bed are connected at their inner ends to the hooks 11 on the base-plate 10 and that the wires 8 on the opposite side of the bed are connected at their inner ends to the hooks or iianges 18 on the cross-bar 17. These 8o wires 8 extend outwardly from their points of connection with the tightening device 9 to their points of attachment to the wires 7 at angles of substantially forty-ve degrees to the side rails 3 and 4 of the bed. When, there- 85 fore, the thumb-nut 19 is screwed up upon the rod 14, the strain or tightening action of the wires 8 will be distributed equally .upon the head and foot boards 1 and 2 and the side rails 3 and 4. The wires 8 are connected 9o to the Wires 7 by means of loops in the former wires; but as said wires S extend atan angle of forty-five degrees to the sides of the bed and are moved by the tightening device in the direction of their length there will be no 95 slipping action between said wires 8 and the wires 7. In other words, the bend or loop in each of the wires 7, at which point one of the Wires 8 is connected, will always remain at the same point. This is an important feature of construction.

I am aware that bed-braces have been devised heretofore which consistof wires each attached at one end to one end of the bed, at it-s other end to a centrally-located tightening device, and at a point intermediate its ends through a loop, hook, or other analogous device to one o'f the sides of the bed. The objection to this old form of device is that abrupt bends in the wire are formed which prevent the longitudinal movement thereof, and Without such longitudinal movement the strain of the centrallylocated tightening device cannot be equally applied to both the end and side portions of the bed. The result is that the old forms of devices referred to are inefficient and result in a loose Wabbling connection between the side railsa/nd the head and foot boards. This objection is entirely overcome by my invention.

As the threaded rod 14, which forms a part of my tightening device i), is adapted to be secured to the base-plate 10 of said tightening device by means of the insertion of the hook 16 thereon into one or the other of the openings 13 in said base-plate, it will be obvious that Vmy brace as a whole is adapted for adjustment independent of the tightening means, so that it may be used upon beds of varying sizes. This is an important feature of construction.

Another important feature of my invention is that the brace may be applied to any bed now in use and may be readily disconnected therefrom for the purpose of packing, shipping, or storing. When thus disconnected, the brace may be readily folded up into corn,- pact form Without the formation of kinks and bends in the Wires which compose part of the same.

The device is extremely sim ple in construction, effective in operation, and may be produced at a nominal cost.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. A bed-brace comprising wires adapted to be connected to the head and foot boards and side rails of a bed, and a tightening device for said wires, consisting of a base-plate having wireengaging portions thereon extending outwardly at an angle and having a series of openings therein, a rod having a projection thereon adapted to tit Within one or the other of said openings, a cross-bar mounted loosely on said rod having Wire-engaging portions thereon, and means for moving said cross-bar longitudinally of said rod, the said wires being connected respectively with the Wire-engaging portions on said base-plate and said cross-bar.

2. A bed-brace, comprising Wires adapted to be connected to the head and foot boards and side rails of a bed, and a tightening device for said Wires consisting of a base-plate having hooks thereon, a series of openings therein, and a perforated flange thereon, a screw-threaded rod extending through said flange and provided with a hook adapted to iit Within one or the other of said openings, a cross-bar on said rod having hooks thereon, and a thumb-nut on said rod for moving said cross-bar longitudinally, the said wires being connected respectively with the hooks on said base-plate and with those on said crossbar.

3. A bed-brace, comprising wires secured respectively to one end and to the adjacent side of the bed at each corner thereof, a centrally-located wire-tightening device, and angnlarly-arranged Wires connected respectively to said wire-tightening device and to the wires at the corners of the bed.

4. A bed-brace, comprising Wires connected respectively to one end and to the adjacent side ot' the bed at each corner thereof, a centrally-located tightening device comprising a base and a part movablelongitudinally with respect thereto, angularly-arranged Wires connecting said base with the Wires at two of the corners of the bed and angularly-arrangcd Wires connecting said longitudinally-movable part with the wires at the other two corners of the bed.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES WASHINGTON SMITH. 

